


Please Explain

by TKXHV



Series: The DJD make a call [1]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Gen, contains mild spoilers to mtmte #55 in later chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-07-28 19:10:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7653328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TKXHV/pseuds/TKXHV
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A canon divergence during issue #39.</p><p>Tarns sits outside in the harsh cold of Messatine, the video of Megatron's trial and his renouncement of the Decepticons playing over and over in his head. But before he comms Kaon to meet him in the refueling chamber, he is interrupted by one of his team to bring him back to base.</p><p>The DJD have made contact with the Lost Light, with Megatron on the other side of the call.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Helex found Tarn a ways away from the base, sitting quietly in the snowfall and hunched slightly, his head bowed deep. The larger mech almost didn't want to disturb him, whenever Tarn had made it clear he wanted to be alone his team always let him be.  
But Kaon had been insistent that Tarn needed to come back inside, whether he felt like it or not, and quite frankly Helex agreed.  
They needed him to be there.

Tarn's frame jumped slightly when he called out to him, as if he'd been too deep in thought to hear the others heavy footfalls. He turned around, palm pressed to his mask, as if he has just clicked it back into place, "What is it?"  
"You need to come back to the base."

Tarn narrowed his optics and turned away again, "I'll return when I choose to."  
Helex ex-vented heavily and lumbered up to him. He hated when their commander got stubborn like this, only Kaon had the right combination of patience and iron-will to shift him and even then he was only successful half of the time.  
He let his large hand rest on the tank's shoulder-tread as lightly as he could, knowing that applying any grip could set Tarn's will even firmer.

"Kaon's made contact with the ship that Megatron is on."

Helex felt Tarn stiffen. 

"You should have seen the Autobot's faces when they saw who was calling," the blue mech huffed, trying to lighten the mood, "All the crew on the bridge looked like they were going to leak themselves dry."

"Go back inside, Helex."

Helex set his jaw firmly and tried to sound authoritative.  
"Come on Tarn, you've got to come back to the base."  
"Go. Back. Inside."  
"Tarn-"  
"I will not repeat myself a third time!" Tarn snapped, his voice icy, "Leave this instant or there will be consequences!"

Helex was usually slow to anger but Tarn's stubbornness mixed with the discovery of what Megatron had done made his temper momentarily flare. He ground his teeth and grabbed Tarn by the elbow and roughly hauled him to his feet, causing the mech to let out an undignified yelp.  
"HELEX! Unhand me this instant!"  
"You are not fragging staying out here!"  
"Do not order me around, Helex." Tarn hissed, trying to wrench his arm out of the big mech's grip, "Release me and get out of my sight before-"  
"We **need** you in there!"  
Tarn stopped struggling.

"...You don't need me." he said quietly, "You don't need me there to talk to him."  
"Oh course we fragging do!" Helex exclaimed, "We all deserve answers from him, you more than any of us! You can't just stay out here and..." he ex-vented, calming himself, "You should not ignore this and pretend it's not happening. And you shouldn't distance yourself from us, not now."

Tarn's whole frame seemed to deflate, "Let me go."  
"Only if you come back with me, right now." Helex insisted, tugging him closer, "If you don't I'm carrying you back there, and you know damned well I'll do it too."  
A tiny exaggeration on his part, Helex was fully capable of lifting Tarn in his arms, but the trek back would be far too much of an exertion.

Tarn made a noise that almost sounded like a laugh, "Nickel's personality is rubbing off on you."  
Helex grinned, "Is that a yes?"  
Tarn answered by transforming, waiting for Helex to follow suit before they began the drive back to their base.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The talk begins. And is consistently derailed by Rodimus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **bolded words** are spoken in Primal Vernacular

Nickel was waiting for them in the main entrance, waving them inside out of the cold, grumbling about them tracking in snow.  
"I won't get under your feet while you talk." she informed them, "I'll be in the medibay trying to salvage that ruination of a t-cog you brought in."

As the two started down the hall to the communications room, they began to hear muffled but enthusiastic shouting, and as they got closer, Kaon's voice became clearer.  
"-ithout contact for _decades_ and the first thing we hear about you is that you've _defected_?! Is there any wonder that we demand a proper explanation as to what in the Pit happened to make you do that!"

Helex keyed in the access panel code and the door slid aside in time for them to hear Megatron trying to get a word in, "Kaon, if you have the video of the trial then you would know tha-"  
"No. You are not fobbing us off like that." Kaon interrupted, thin laces of electricity edging around his coils, "As soon as Tarn and Helex get here, you are going to explain to us why you have done this. And in your own words, too." he added sharply, his finger jabbing at the screen, "Tarn's not the only one who's read all of your works front to back. Whoever wrote that garbage you spouted at the end? It was not you."

Tarn stepped into view of the vidscreen camera, laying a hand on Kaon's shoulder in a silent request, Helex and Tesarus moving behind him, half hidden from view due to their sheer size with Vos hovering between them.  
Kaon looked up, giving Tarn a smile that he swore almost looked relieved as he made a sweeping gesture to the screen and stepped aside.

The glaring red badge onscreen was so much worse than when he saw it on the pre-recorded video. Tarn never in his life thought he could hate that symbol any more than he already did,  
He wished he could reach out and rip the wretched thing from his leader's chest.  
So focused he was on the badge he didn't realise that Megatron wasn't the only mech onscreen.

"Captain Rodimus and former enforcer Ultra Magnus have refused to leave us so we could have our chat in private." Kaon explained, ire not hidden in the least.

"Oooh sure! Like we were _actually_ going to leave you all alone so you could conspire and get Megs to jump right back into being evil again." sarcasm as obvious as a steel beam to the face came from Rodimus, "You're lucky we haven't disconnected the call yet. Just as well that it's been pretty funny to see "Lord Megatron" getting yelled at by a wayward subordinate."

Kaon bristled, "Wayward-!"  
Tarn raised a hand and Kaon begrudgingly shut his mouth.

Tarn took a moment to draw himself up and ground himself. He never thought he'd be questioning Megatron like this, not in all his life, he had to get this right.  
"You said not to expect wisdom, or guidance, or answers..." Tarn hated that even that wretched speech was burned into his memory, just as well as every other of Megatron's speeches, "However, I do strongly suggest that you take this chance to convince us not to track down the ship you are on and deal with you, personally."

Rodimus decided to interrupt again, "If you do come and kill him, can you not kill my crew this time around? Because- No Magnus, I'm not going to be quiet!- because we saw footage of what you lot did to the duplicate of my crew and it would be _brilliant_ if we didn't have a repeat of that."

Kaon perked up, "Footage?"  
"They've must've found the minibot that Vos lost." muttered Tesarus.  
Vos punched his leg.

Tarn ignored the exchange behind him and spread his hands, "I assure you that my team and I will not lay a finger on your crew." They would make sure not to fuel up on Nuke this time, he was still embarrassed at how out of hand things had gotten the last time. They were meant to be professionals after all.

Neither Autobot looked the least bit convinced at the promise but didn't say anything else.

Attention was refocused on Megatron when he spoke, "I came close to calling you. Before the trial, when Shockwave was trying to destroy the universe. I wanted to summon you so you could assist in retaking Cybertron, but I was steadfastly refused."

"You were refused and you accepted that?" Tarn questioned, "Do you honestly expect us to believe you lay down and accepted "refusal"?"  
Rodimus barked a laugh, "Well he didn't have any legs at the time so he couldn't really do much standing."  
Something akin to embarrassment crossed Megatron's face and he crossed his arms. Tarn was sorely tempted to ask what had happened to Megatron's legs but curbed himself. This was not the time for something as trivial as that, Megatron owed them answers.

"No... instead you donned the symbol of our oppressors. The people who were the reason for our revolution in the first place." Tarn raised his hand to touch upon his own badge, "As if it weren't unforgivable enough that you cast away the Decepticon insignia, you had to _replace it_."

"What this badge represents has changed, Tarn." Megatron said firmly, "As have our original ideals, we have all deviated from our original path, some for the worse."  
"You betrayed us, you renounced everything we worked for and told us to tear off the symbol of what we've believed in for millions and millions of years. That's more than just a deviation from the very path that you carved for us all."  
"That path was leading to the destruction of our race, I made the wrong choices and lost sight of what I was fighting for. And I dragged you all down with me."

"You make it sound as if we were forced." Tarn sneered, "We all followed you because we saw that you could do something about the corruption of the senate, we believed in your ideals and what you wanted for our home-"  
"And it in turn became corrupted," Megatron insisted, "I lost my way and as a result the Decepticons lost their way. I became something I've come to loathe and you all followed me down that path."

Cold fury washed through Tarn's spark, he had to stop himself from striking the screen in rage.  
"So all we've done has been for waste?" he snarled, trying to quash the shaking in his voice that threatened to surface, "All the lives that were snuffed out because they fought for your ideals and promises? The lives snuffed out because of the orders you gave your soldiers? The world you promised everyone will never be realised because you've _changed your mind_?"

The look of sorrow that came over Megatron was painful to see. It didn't look right, that expression should never come over their leader's face, "I never intended for it to turn out this way." he said quietly, "I'm sorry."

Tarn opened his mouth to speak but stopped when Vos growled behind him, " **Spare us your empty apologies, it doesn't change the fact you renounced all the people who fought and died for you.** "

That made him stop for a moment, remembering what was said when he and Helex arrived. His t-cog had begun to itch, he needed a transformation badly but held off. He had to know...  
"Kaon is right. The final words you gave at your trial. The renouncement. The order to tear off our badges...Those weren't your words were they?"

Megatron glanced at Ultra Magnus and Rodimus and gave a tired sigh, "No." he said simply.

Tarn clenched his fists to hide the trembling.  
"Who?"

"Optimus."

The reaction amongst the DJD was immediate. Electrical coils snapped, Vos spat out a curse and Helex pressed a large hand to his face, muffling an angered groan.  
Tarn restrained himself once more from punching the vidscreen.

"It was the condition on letting me roam freely until the Knights of Cybertron were found. I can only assume that part of it was attempt to coax the extreme loyalists into abandoning the cause."

Tesarus huffed, "Uh-huh, and that _totally_ would have worked too."

Megatron gave a smirk that almost looked fond, "I admit, I was very... concerned about how you would all react." his expression grew serious and levelled his gaze at Tarn, "I can't tell you how relieved I am that you decided to try and get in contact with me first, rather than do something drastic and irreversible."

Tarn nearly broke.

He nearly told Megatron about the rage he felt when he saw the video, and how quickly it was consumed by despair and grief.  
He nearly told him that the only reason this conversation was taking place was because of Kaon.  
He nearly told him that not ten minutes ago he was planning on ending his life.

But he couldn't. Not with those two Autobots by Megatron's side. Not with his team behind him, there was no way he could bear them knowing that. He could never admit those things, not now. Possibly not ever.

Instead he said, "We've changed too much to fully stand down. _You_ have changed us too much to fully stand down. There is no way we could ever return to Cybertron."  
Not without full frame changes, not without completely erasing every part of who they are. Tarn did not want to go through such a drastic change again.  
Megatron bowed his head, "I know..." he said, voice laden with regret, "This is why I want to try and make right, I went too far with so many things. One of which was how I molded all of you."

"We, the Decepticons, lost sight of what our goal originally was, that I know to be a fact. I will not repeat the lie that we were wrong to stand up to our oppressors, but Tarn... as a race, we cannot continue fighting with each other. Listen and understand that when I say the war is over, it is _over_. The old senate is long dead. There are still problems abound, yes, but there is no need for..." he trailed off.

"There's no need for _us_." Helex ground out, bitterness oozing from his tone.

"There's no need for a Justice Division." Megatron corrected, "There's no need to be crossing names off a list. Not anymore."

Kaon drew himself up, coils buzzing angrily, "So what, the List is defunct and everything is forgiven? That's not going to mean a _thing_ to those we've executed. It'll mean even _less_ to whoever's left to care about them."  
"Do we just send out a memo to everyone not crossed out?" added Tesarus, "Or everyone on Cybetron for that matter? "We heard the war's over so the DJD isn't a thing anymore and there's no need to worry about us coming to kill you. No hard feelings eh? Cheers!"" the large mech snorted, "Whole lot of good that'll do."

"What the- " _Crossed out_ "? That's how you talk about all the mechs you've killed?!", Rodimus stepped in front of Megatron, taking up more than half of the vidscreen, "How can you talk about what you've done so casually?!"  
"We were doing our job," Tarn said coolly, "We have a list. We eliminate traitors which in turn makes others think twice before straying from the cause. We cross off a name."  
"How can that be called justice? That's not justice, it's just torture!" Rodimus exclaimed.  
Ultra Magnus gripped him by the shoulder, trying to pull him away from the screen, "Rodimus, shut up."  
"And which one of you is the sicko that puts brains in people's mouths?"  
Helex raised a hand.  
"What is _wrong_ with you?!"  
Helex grinned widely, "Sometimes I put them in _my_ mouth."  
Rodimus's jaw dropped.

Megatron took the chance grab his co-captain and force him to meet his optics, "Rodimus, stop. You are not helping."  
The captain scowled and turned away from the screen, crossing his arms and grumbling.

Megatron turned his attention back to the DJD, "I am at fault, entirely. The idea of a Justice Division was good in theory, but it became flawed in practice. I made you all believe that the torture and terror you employed was the right thing to do, that there was no wrong to it, and it's changed you all."

"I can apologise and regret until the end of time but it doesn't undo the damage done. All I ask of you is to cease the execution of fellow Cybertronians." he paused for a moment, as if contemplating whether to say what was on his mind.

"Damus..."

Tarn's head snapped up, startled. Megatron continued, seemingly ignoring Tarn's shock at the use of his long unused birth-name, "You don't have to wear that mask anymore."

A heavy silence descended on both ends of the call. The DJD warily looking at Tarn, knowing well how he felt about the subject of removing his mask.

"Megatron..." Tarn started but trailed off, completely lost on what to say.  
He wanted to protest. After having his body rebuilt and his empurata undone, he was scared of his new face, he was scared at how expressive it was. The mask was never meant to hide his identity...

Megatron seemed to understand what he could not bring himself to say, "I'm not saying not to wear a mask. I'm not even saying to get rid of that one. You can do what you want with it. Keep it locked away, keep it mounted on your wall, do whatever you want with it." his mouth set in a firm line, "I'm not telling you to remove your badge, any of you. But _you_ don't need that mask anymore."

Tarn didn't know what to say. White noise buzzed in his head, getting worse as the silence drew out.  
Rescue came unexpectedly from Rodimus, taking a step up and waving his hand to get Tarn's attention, "Gonna interrupt this touching moment for just a sec, 'cause I'm _really_ going to need to know if any of Megs's words are sinking in for you or if your little kill-squad is headed over and I need to assure everyone not to immediately panic."

Tarn contemplated a variety of things he could say, and then ended the call without giving an answer.

Let them suffer the ambiguity.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moving on does not mean ceasing to do what one does best.

The silence that descended upon the room after the screen went dark was overwhelming, the indignation, anger and forced composure melted away to unease. The four behind Tarn were casting glances at each other, not knowing how to react to the abruptly ended call.

Kaon was the first to address Tarn, "Are we... going after them?"

He remained silent.

Kaon took a step towards him, tentatively reaching a hand out, "... Tarn?"

"Damus."

Kaon halted, "What?"

"Codenames aren't a necessity anymore."

No one said a word, not knowing how to respond. Kaon looked uncomfortable, lowering his hand but not stepping back, "Are you... certain?"

"Megatron was quite clear in his instruction." his voice was shaky but determined, "There is no more need for a Decepticon Justice Division, there is no need for a list of traitors to hunt down and execute, and there is no need to kill our fellow Cybertronians, whether they be Autobot or Decepticon."

" **Then... what do we do now?** " Vos said in a small voice, " **If we're not a division anymore...** "  
Tesarus covered his head in his hands and leaned heavily against the back wall, "Uuugh, this is completely doing my head in..."  
" **Are we going to have to separate?** " Vos sounded slightly panicked, " **I can't-** ", he stopped as Helex laid a hand on his shoulder, "Calm down," he rumbled, "None of us will be separating if we don't want to."  
"I can't even _imagine_ us all being separate at this point," Tesarus muttered.

"Vos is right though," Kaon said, "If we're not going to be the Decepticon Justice Division anymore then what are we supposed to do-" he stopped short and let out a soft, "Oh...".

The mask had been put aside on the console, it's owner still facing the dark screen.

Damus couldn't bring himself to turn around and bare his face them, not yet. He was not ready for that, he would have to build himself up to it, but he had to show he was serious about this.  
He straightened and spoke, continuing on from before, "However, Megatron did not say a word about beings who are _not_ Cybertronian."

Damus didn't have to see them to know the groups reaction, he could feel the energy in the room immediately soar. This is what they all needed. None of them could truly go back to who they were before. The war was over? Fine.  


They simply had to change targets.

"Now... given the unforgivable and tragic destruction Nickel's home colony, we have some _very_ much unfinished business with the Black Block Consortia. My friends, I propose that we do something about that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of this pocket of canon divergence! I hope you enjoyed reading this fic.  
> Thank you so much to the people who have left kudos and comments, I really do appreciate it so much.


End file.
